Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To fall for a trick / to be tricked: To be deceived or outwitted by someone's cunning plan or scheme.
   • To be caught in a trap: To become ensnared or victimized by a stratagem or plot laid by another.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Nó đã trúng kế của đối thủ. (He fell for the opponent's trick.)
  • Chúng tôi không ngờ mình lại trúng kế. (We didn't expect to be caught in the trap.)
  • Cả đội trúng kế dụ ra ngoài của đối phương. (The whole team was tricked by the opponent's ploy to draw them out.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often implies a sense of being outsmarted, where the victim fails to see the deception due to the cleverness of the scheme.
  • Nhà đầu tư trúng kế lừa đảo tinh vi. (The investor was caught in an elaborate fraud scheme.)

Variants and Related Words

• Trúng mưu (verb phrase): To fall for a trick; very similar in meaning and often used interchangeably.

  • Anh ta trúng mưu của họ. (He fell for their trick.)

• Mắc kế (verb phrase): To be caught in a scheme; a synonymous phrase.

  • Đừng để mắc kế chúng. (Don't let yourself be caught in their scheme.)

Synonyms

• To be duped: To be deceived.
• To be hoodwinked: To be tricked or deceived.
• To be ensnared: To be trapped or caught in a snare.

Related Idioms

• Trúng kế ly gián: To fall for a divide-and-conquer stratagem.

  • Hai nước láng giềng trúng kế ly gián của thế lực thứ ba. (The two neighboring countries fell for a third power's divide-and-conquer trick.)

• Trúng kế nghi binh: To be fooled by a feint or diversionary tactic.

  • Đội quân trúng kế nghi binh và bị tấn công bất ngờ ở sườn. (The army was fooled by the feint and was attacked unexpectedly on the flank.)